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Astros pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. In addition, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal extends his lead among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Cal Quantrill is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Padres pitcher Dylan Cease rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Cody Bradford is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Royals pitcher Brady Singer rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, two players extend significant streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday—Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel (15 seasons) and Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (10 seasons).
Read MoreTwins pitcher Bailey Ober is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Ober struck out eight over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 11-3 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.
Woodruff struck out 12 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and no walks, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.
Read MoreThough Box-Toppers would not have voted David Ortiz as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s hard to argue that his performance on the field was not worthy.
Yet, several other candidates with Hall-of-Fame worthy careers were not voted for induction Tuesday because of their ties to the steroid era. In fact, it can be argued that righteous baseball writers did a noble thing Tuesday by blocking three such candidates—Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa—for their 10th and final time on the ballot.
Read MoreDavid Ortiz is the only player inducted into internet baseball writers’ Hall of Fame for 2022.
None of the nine candidates Box-Toppers voted for Hall induction received the necessary 75 percent support. And Box-Toppers also did not vote for Ortiz.
Read MoreBox-Toppers is voting for nine players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2022 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.
Of the nine players, three are in their first year on the ballot—Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy and Mark Teixeira. The other six all return after not receiving the necessary votes to make the hall last year, including Curt Schilling, who is on the ballot for his 10th and final year.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nola struck out nine over 8 2/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Braves.
Read MorePadres pitcher Yu Darvish is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings, taking the 2021 Box-Toppers point lead among National League pitchers.
Darvish struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the active leader in career Box-Toppers points earned his first points of the 2021 season as National League Player of the Day.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMiguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995.
Tejada, who played from 1997 to 2013 primarily for the Athletics and Orioles, but also for the Astros, Giants, Padres and Royals, earned 102.3 career Box-Toppers points. That is 25.9 Box-Toppers points ahead of the second-place shortstop in career Box-Toppers points, Derek Jeter (76.4), who played for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place and Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to ninth place.
Porcello, Corbin and Kluber are among five players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Andrew Suarez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Suarez struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreMiguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995. Derek Jeter ranks a distant second.
Other leaders at shorstop include Troy Tulowitzki, Elvis Andrus, Corey Seager and Stephen Drew.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Yu Darvish is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his player rankings lead among American League pitchers and becoming the 79th player since 1995 with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.
Also Friday, Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians rises to first place in Box-Toppers points among AL batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
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Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 |
Also Sunday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—first among all batters—after earning American League Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Nelson struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, seven hits and no walks, in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Tommy Hunter pitched two scoreless innings—the ninth and the 10th—striking out three and allowing no hits, in the 8-6, 15-inning win over the Twins. Hunter picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the score was tied 5-5 when he exited.
Normally, middle relievers who pitch fewer than three innings and do not earn the win or save don’t earn Player of the Game honors. But Hunter did because he had a higher Box-Toppers game score and the same or more innings pitched than the player who otherwise would have won. Closer Erasmo Ramirez (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 was in line for Player of the Game honors. But Hunter edged him out because he had both a higher Box-Toppers game score (+5.0) and more innings pitched (2.0 vs. 1.0).
Additionally, Hunter, with only two innings pitched, was able to win AL Player of the Day honors because of lower Box-Toppers game scores of AL players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, including his runner-up, Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin, who despite a complete game win (CG 6H R 0BB 3K W in the 10-1 win over the Royals) only had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
National League Batter of the Day—Adam Duvall of the Reds homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4 in the 9-5 win over the Athletics.
Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings. He also rises to first among all batters, moving ahead of Bryce Harper of the Nationals (6.0), who falls out of the overall top 10 to 11th place.
Notable—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to 70th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cueto (6IP 6H R BB 8K W in the 7-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.8 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Mark Teixeira (101.3) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Cueto now trails 69th-place player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Scoring—Nelson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hunter earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Duvall and Judge each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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| 5/28 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIL 9, ARI 5 | Jimmy Nelson (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CIN 8, PHI 4 | Adam Duvall, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | COL 8, STL 4 | Gerardo Parra, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | SF 7, ATL 1 | Johnny Cueto (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | `TB 8, MIN 6 (F/15) | Tommy Hunter | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 10, KC 1 | Josh Tomlin (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | SD 5, WSH 3 | Kirby Yates (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.2 | LAD 9, CHC 4 | Josh Fields (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | NYY 9, OAK 5 | Aaron Judge, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIA 9, LAA 2 | JT Riddle, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 5, BOS 0 | Christian Bergman (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 8, BAL 4 | Yuli Gurriel, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | CHW 7, DET 3 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | NYM 7, PIT 2 | Jay Bruce, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | TEX 3, TOR 1 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 13.1 | 41.9 | 41.9 | -5.1 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 4.0 | 12.5 | 29.7 | 62.8 | -4.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 1.0 |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | cin nl | 3.5 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -3.0 |
| Bergman, Christian 3799 | pi sp | sea al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 17.0 | 23.5 | 0.0 |
| Riddle, JT 3805 | ss | fla nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 18.4 | 72.0 | 101.8 | -14.4 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 2.0 | 11.2 | 16.2 | 21.7 | -7.2 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 20.4 | 26.4 | -3.0 |
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi mr | tb al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 9.7 | 17.7 | 0.7 |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Fields, Josh 3247 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.